ISSUE
08 May 2013
AISEÂ’S OFFICIAL IB NEWSLETTER
IB Busy!
GET IT?
this issue The Final Stretch: IB Seniors P.1 IB Art Exhibition P.2 Some Addiction Vindication P.3 Sneak Peek: FarahnazÂ’s Cookbook P.4
IB BusyÂ’s 10 Things to Keep YOU Busy
The Final Stretch: IB Seniors Yasmine Dessouky & Tarek Roshdy
Because we know IB students have a lot of free time on their hands, we compiled a list of activities that could take their minds of studying for a while.
Gone are the days of internal assessments, worrying about CAS deadlines, three hours of sleep a night, college applications, Extended Essays, TOK essays, standardized testing, and predicted scores. Thursday, April 18th was the IB Senior class of 2013Â’s last day.
LWÂśV D YHU\ GLIÂżFXOW SURFHVV 7KHUHÂśV WZR \HDUV RI PDWHULDO to go over and master, and itÂ’s very hard to know where to start or how to begin, whether it be solving math past papers, studying diagrams for economics, or reading your English novels, thereÂ’s a ton of work to do.
1 - Carry out a DIY project - http:// www.diynetwork.com/ has great ideas or go to refashionista.net for ideas on how to refashion old FORWKHV LQWR EHDXWLIXO QHZ RXWÂżWV
IB exams kicked off on April 30th and in two months IB scores will be released. Two years of IB are coming to an end and the seniors will have truly survived the rigorous two years of IB, of panic attacks, and of sleepless nights (except for on July 6th, results day!)
We once again asked Katamish’s opinion on travelling abroad and this is what he had to say: “I feel like it’s going to be a completely different experience, where I’ll be independent (or forced to be independent) in almost every aspect of my life, which is something I need to learn how to do.” It’s true that as, young adults, living alone will be a very new and challenging experience, with issues that arise such as balancing expenses and just generally learning to be independent.
2 - Play and learn at freerice. com- you give rice to children in Africa for every question you get right. They have questions for many subjects, including SAT review 3 – Download some productive IB apps – search for: Bio Ninja, Go IB Chem, IB Tools, and IB Calculator. 4 – Use this YouTube channel for a quick review (or you know, to cram): http://www.youtube.com/ user/crashcourse - they have videos for chemistry, biology, history, and more. 5 - Cook for charity - Farahnaz’s recipe is a great start. 6 - Play Just Dance on Wii for some great and fun exercise! Or just look for the videos on YouTube if you don’t have the CD. 7 - Download MacBook apps to keep you organized such as iProcrastinate (a calendar), Evernote (to keep track of notes), todoist (a to do list) and Doo (keeps documents organized) Finally, and against our better judgment: go theuselessweb. com – possibly the weirdest website ever; you click on a button and it sends you to random websites.
What do they think, though? Seniors feel that being in their in their last year is surreal. As Youssef Katamish puts it, “In your senior year, you come to school knowing it’s going to be your ODVW ¾¿UVW GD\ RI school’ and it’s a very weird feeling. But as scary as it might be to know that next year all your friends will be scattered around the globe leading separate lives, it is exhilarating to know that you’re one step closer to the ‘real world’.” “Although I’m excited to get going, I don’t want the day to come when I have to leave my friends. We really are an ‘IB Family’ and I couldn’t have asked for a better bunch to help me through it all,” he added. Mixed feelings of happiness and ZRUU\ VXUURXQG WKH ,% 6HQLRUV EXW ZH DUH FRQ¿GHQW RI their abilities and we are sure the seniors will excel on their exams. %XW KRZ GRHV RQH SUHSDUH IRU DOO RI WKLV" )RU ¿QDO H[DPV going to university, and (for some) travelling and living abroad? It’s all very overwhelming to think about, especially for those who have lived in Egypt their entire lives. The seniors say that in terms of studying for the exams,
But let’s hope that as the IB seniors begin to embark on their own individual journeys, that wherever they may be, abroad or in Egypt, they remember to give back to this country and to share their knowledge with those less fortunate than them. So that maybe, one day ZHœOO ZDNH XS WR ¿QG D QHZ (J\SW IRU RXUVHOYHV and our children. After all, without the new generations, Egypt cannot thrive as we want it to. Again, this is about them. Let this article be considered a small token of appreciation from the entire IB Busy! team and the junior class for the advice the IB seniors have given us, and their moral support. They know what it’s OLNH EHLQJ LQ \RXU ¿UVW \HDU RI ,% DQG YHU\ VRRQ they will know what ending IB is like as well. Their presence was invaluable to us, and let them be an example for how every senior class should treat and mentor the junior year below them. They will truly be missed. We wish them a very heartfelt good luck with their future, and we hope they ZRUN KDUG GXULQJ WKLV ¾¿QDO VWUHWFKœ IRU WKH ¿QLVK OLQH DV WKH ¿QDO \HDU RI ,% DQG RI VFKRRO EULQJV WKHP VXFFHVV “When I look back at the past two years, there’s one thing I’m sure of: I wouldn’t have done it any other way.” -Nardine Hanna, IB Senior
The Culture of Anonymity
Important Dates & Deadlines
As you’re reading this, you’ll notice that next to the title of this article is my name. This already makes it so that I can be held accountable for anything I write. By having my name published, it’s been identified that these are my own unaltered words. Now that we’ve established the fact that this article is of my own writing, let me get to the actual point before you get too bored.
April 30 - May 21: IB Final Exams June 8: Graduation
May 9: EE Deadline: Preliminary Research & Title/RQ May 28: Group 4 Project June 3: EE Deadline: Formal Outline & Summer Work Plan June 6: 2nd CAS Deadline
May 2: SAT Registration Deadline May 4, June 1: SAT & Subject Tests May 18: One Family Worker June 17: Last Day of School June 19: Report Card Pick-up
Days Off: May 5: Eastern Easter May 6: Sham El Nessim
*College Board Deadlines expire at 11:59 pm Eastern Time, USA Dates and deadlines are subject to change. IB Busy! cannot be held liable for any changes.
Earth Day Earth day was on Monday, April 22nd. Earth day, an annual event, a day dedicated to raising awareness towards our non-stop evil towards the environment. The funniest part is that every year we turn off the lights for a couple of minutes, we don’t let the tap run, preach some jargon about saving the earth and slowly slide back to our evil ways. But the practice of tree hugging and the day we call earth day is more than all that. Aiming to inspire and reward both simple individual acts and larger organizational initiatives that reduce carbon emissions and support sustainability Earth day is a reminder of our duty as global citizens to preserve the planet. This year, Germans battled against the coldest ever winter in...history. Last year, Europe in its entirety saw a deadly cold wave killing more than 824 people. All this because of climate change. Every year, we are affected more and more by our lack of care towards the environment. An issue that may just bring around Armageddon one of these days (no pun intended). But surprisingly, many of us fail to see the importance of Earth day and the environment in our lives. As pollution levels soared above average in Beijing early this January, a middle aged
Yasmine Dessouky Chinese man reportedly said this to the Washington Post: “If we can’t get a handle on the smog problem without abandoning economic growth then it just isn’t worth it. If we can fix the issue and still grow economically, all the better. But really our priority should be the economy.� Surprised? Appalled? Amazed? Well, it’s sad but unfortunately true. As humans we have become more concerned with materialistic gain than our health and not only our future but our children’s future. We’ve become consumed almost. As long as we’ve got money in our pockets and beds to sleep on nothing else matters. We’ve become passive to industry’s effect on our lives. We’ve resorted to ignoring the issue rather than facing it. We must this Earth day, make the effort to become more sustainable. To develop industry and partake in efforts for our world (that can still be financially rewarding) rather than turn our backs on the myriad of issues that will implode. Cheryl Empey
Students:
One Down, Five to Go: Art Extravaganza
Last Day of School Countdown On the day this was published, the 1st of May 2013
48
days were left to the end of the academic school year 2012/13. Good luck from the IB Busy! and the IB Busy! team.
After two years of tiring work, the IB Art seniors did not only get a chance to try to earn a good grade in this GLIÂżFXOW FRXUVH EXW DOVR WR VKRZ off their art skills through the Art Exhibition. Since there is no IB Art exam, the exhibition was the most crucial part of the course. The senior IB class included Shehab Fawzy, Engie Ezz el Din, Youssef Abdel Mohsen, Yomna el Barahamtoushy and Nourhan el Gendy. Of course, art is not strictly the traditional talent of holding a pencil to paper and creating something beautiful, but it has also evolved into photography, VFXOSWLQJ ÂżOP PDNLQJ DQG PXFK more. Likewise, each student had their own talent and they were all so beautifully put on display in the exhibition. Accompanying it were the works of aspiring artists from all grade levels. Shehab Fawzy exclusively told IB Busy that “The two years of Art were full of a lot of ups and downs...and downs, but in the end if was worth it. It was the best feeling in the world showing everybody our work, and then laughing at them because
Marina Milad
we had one less subject to deal with during exam time. Congratulations to Nourhan, Engie, Youssef, and Yomna. I can’t wait to see everyone’s future work.� His own piece of work was a comical twist on a poster Obama often used for his campaign. But, the picture of the US President was replaced with that of Egyptian president Mohammed Morsy, and the word “Nope� instead of “Hope.� By just looking at one piece of work we see that IB Art not only augments talent, but also encourages creativity.
Caltiva Creatividad
Class of 2014:
We all love the internet. At least, allow me to make the assumption for the sake of this article. On websites such as Facebook or Twitter, we can feel a certain comfort. People can’t see our faces as we communicate with them (assuming we’re not on Skype), and they only have our words to go on. We are hidden behind a computer screen and our inhibitions are somewhat altered by this fact. So what’s the problem? The problem is precisely the comfort we feel when we can hide behind a computer. At least on Facebook and Twitter, we have our own pictures associated with our own names. This does not stop anyone from creating fake accounts impersonating another person. We are able to create basic anonymity just by making a fake account, and well, it becomes a bit harder to hold someone accountable for what they say when we’re unsure that it’s really them. Anonymity is actually a huge part of the internet, and beneath the purpose of being able to communicate with each other, the internet has the inherent function of being a free-for-all playSaïvann
Class of 2013:
Tarek Roshdy ground for the devious. It’s easy to hide your tracks on the internet through proxies and other encryption, which is precisely what those who steal money off the internet, or more extremely, terrorists, use to hide themselves. For those of us who aren’t terrorists, this opens the gate to cyber-bullying and other nasty things we’ve been warned about since we were tall enough to sit at a computer. Don’t talk to strangers, don’t believe everything you read, you must be 13 or older to sign up. I am sure all readers of IB Busy! are smarter than to use Ask.fm (shudder), but if you are familiar with it, you’ll know that anyone can ask anyone else a question without revealing their identity. This leads to harassment. What this anonymity has done is create a culture of non-identity, a whole domain of thought dedicated to being invisible. The moral of the story is, don’t be too comfortable of your invisibility on the internet. Be wary of others, be sensitive, understand that the internet is a huge place and that anonymity is a part of it. Don’t reject anonymity, embrace it, but understand why it’s important and how not to use it.
Some Addiction Vindication We’ve heard it from our parents hundreds of times: “Back in my day we didn’t have Facebook and whatsapp to distract us!� But what is it that evolved millions of humans from all over the world from people who settled for sending letters that took months to deliver to ones who can’t handle a few hours away from the almighty Internet? Why is it that we have to ensure that we post every picture of every outing on Facebook? And why in the world does it seem appropriate that we post a picture of every meal on Instagram for the world to see? If we look at it from a historical point of view, one can make the assumption that humans have always had the same needs and they expressed them using the materials available at the time. For example, in the early AD years in the Middle East, people would make a point of praying in front of everyone else because being religious was important to them. Later on in the 14th century in Great Britain, people would show off by
The One Family Workers’ Fun Day The One Family Workers’ Fun Day is the second annual event by One Family that aims to bridge the gap between the students and the community around them. We are daily surrounded by the support staff at our school, yet most of us never care to give them the time of day. This is where One Family steps up. It is the purpose of One Family events to close the very large gap between the students and the community that surrounds them. The first One Family event of the year is the Christmas Fun Day and Bazaar, which many of our readers participated in. The second annual One Family Workers’ Fun Day will happen on Saturday the 18th of May 2013. This event is run by AIS4Egypt and in partnership with NHS, and is primarily a student-led event aimed to create bonds within our community here at AISE. All students are strongly encouraged to volunteer and attend this event to help create a better environment for all of us here at AISE. IB Busy! would like to encourage all its readers to volunteer and attend the One Family Workers’ Fun Day.
Marina Milad
the number of servants they had. Now here we are in the 21st century where our needs of showing off and being in control cannot be met by owning slaves. So what do we do? We turn twitter into an online diary. We play Sims so we can boss around a group of helpless people that we have created. We post pictures on Facebook with the caption “OMG I’m so ugly� so we can get approval of others. There is more to our love of the Internet than meets the eye. In fact, most of the things we believe we do without intending to are a result of our mutual basic human needs and our individual personalities. Of course, the point isn’t that we should stay away from the Internet – but have you ever thought of why you do the things you do? Just a closer look at our everyday actions and reactions, and we could learn much more about ourselves.
In the Making Karim G. El-Eita Marina Milad Rebecca Tenna Sarah Gharib Tarek Roshdy Yasmine Dessouky Under the Supervision of Dr. Dina Taher, Ms. Nora Elmarzouky & Mr. Khalid Dinnawi With contributions from Ms. Katherine Gendy & Farahnaz Abdel Bary Pictures courtesy of Class of 2013 IB Visual Arts students, Shehab Fawzy & Farahnaz Abdel Bary IB Busy! is grateful for permission to reproduce any copyright material used in this publication. Acknowledgments are included, where appropriate, and, if notified, IB Busy! will be pleased to rectify any errors or omissions at the earliest opportunity. Copyright Š 2013 IB BUSY!. All Rights Reserved.
Farahnaz Abdel Bary’s Roasted Cream of Mushroom Soup You have been wating for this! A sneak peek at Farahnaz’s top secret cookbook. Serves 6-8 Ingredients: ‡ JUDPV IUHVK ZKLWH EXWWRQ mushrooms ‡ JUDPV IUHVK 3RUWREHOOR mushrooms ‡ FXS KRW ZDWHU ‡ FXSV EHHI VWRFN ‡ VKDOORW ILQHO\ FKRSSHG ‡ FXS FKRSSHG IUHVK OHHNV ‡ FORYHV JDUOLF ILQHO\ PLQFHG ‡ PO KHDY\ FUHDP ‡ ([WUD YLUJLQ ROLYH RLO IRU GUL]]OLQJ ‡ WDEOHVSRRQV XQVDOWHG EXWWHU ‡ WDEOHVSRRQV IORXU ‡ 6DOW DQG SHSSHU IRU VHDVRQLQJ ‡ &KRSSHG FKLYHV RU FLODQWUR (optional) Steps: 1) Preheat oven to 200 degrees Celsius. 2) Remove mushroom stalks, chop coarsely and set aside. Slice mushroom caps and combine with mushroom stalks, chopped leeks, shallot and garlic. Be sure that the leeks are washed thoroughly and rid of any sand particles. 3) Season with salt and pepper and drizzle with extra virgin olive oil. Mix to evenly incorporate and add the water over the mushrooms to steam while roasting. 4) Roast in the oven for 20 minutes (covered with aluminum foil) then roast uncovered for another 10 minutes or until the mushrooms have browned. 5) Remove the mushrooms from the oven and set aside. 6) Meanwhile, melt the butter in a pot and add the flour. Whisk well to get rid of any lumps. Season with salt and pepper and add the beef stock as soon as the rue begins to brown. Whisk well and add the mushrooms and cream stirring until the soup begins to thicken. 7) Serve garnished with chopped chives or cilantro. It’s worth mentioning that this is Farahnaz’s very own recipe. GOOD JOB FARAHNAZ! Keep on the lookout for Farahnaz’s cookbook, coming your way any time.
IB Opinions What do you think of our newsletter? Send us an e-mail. aise.ibbusy@gmail.com
IB Busy! Issue 08 May 2013
From IB Student to IB Teacher: A Story of Ms. Katherine Gendy Perseverance Part II In our last issue, we published the first part of Ms. Gendy’s Story of Perseverance, this is what she had to say about traveling abroad for college: That moment when you are done with High School and every thought in your mind goes towards moving out of your house and living abroad on your own….finally on your own! Right? That’s probably what you are thinking. The summer after I graduated my parents took me to the girls dorm of my university in Canada. I still remember the look on my parents’ faces. They were sad but knew that they were doing the best for me. I still remember my father’s words to me, “You are here on a mission: to come back with a university certificate that says that you have completed university with a high GPA. You are not here for anything else!” I lived by these words. The first day in my dorm room…my roommate shows up. I was excited but also scared. I was not used to living with someone in the same room and I was worried that we would not be able to get along. The first month passed smoothly because I was too busy with university work. In the second month, I remember my roommate coming to me one day and we had this conversation: Roommate: “Could you please leave the room because my boyfriend is coming over?” Me: “WHHHHAT???” Roommate: “If you have a problem with that then we can alternate. Next week you can bring your boyfriend and I can leave.” Me: …… (I was speechless!) I left the room and went straight to the dorm manager and explained the situation to her. We had this conversation:
study! Plus thatÂ’s disgusting! You donÂ’t accept that here, do you? Manager: We accept that actually. I donÂ’t understand whatÂ’s the problem? She asked you nicely didnÂ’t she? Me: WHATTT??? To make my story short, I requested a single room which I had to pay more for but itÂ’s a lot better! I lived in a single room for four years peacefully on my own. After a year in university, I started feeling that I owe my parents a lot. A lot of my friends were working over the summer and getting paid jobs. I thought this was a good idea, especially since I felt bad for my parents paying for my tuition. I went to the Student Union of my university and told them I wanted a job. I got a job as the secretary of the Student Union. I was in charge of writing the minutes for all their meetings and then I was paid at the end of each month. I was so proud of myself! I used that money to buy myself the things I really wanted without feeling that my parents are paying for everything for me. I learned to be independent and that helped me grow as a person. I remember what I loved the most about Canada was how organized everything was. I was able to wait for the bus and it would come on time and I was able to ride it and go everywhere I wanted to go. I also loved the fact that you can do whatever you want there and no one would judge you or look at you. That gave me a sense of confidence that I did not have in the Middle East. I turned from a shy girl into a strong, independent and confident woman after 5 years in Canada. It was a life-changing experience.
Me: My roommate wants me to leave my room because she wants to bring her boyfriend over and I want to
Teacher Interview: Mr. Sean Moylan Theory of Knowledge Teacher How long have you been in AIS? “This is my third year.” How long have you been an IB teacher? “This is my second year. Previously, I taught Business and management.” What are your general impressions about the IB? ³9HU\ FKDOOHQJLQJ ULJRURXV GLI¿FXOW SDLQIXO HYHQ DQG HQWLUHO\ EHQH¿FLDO ´ Why did you decide to teach TOK? “Because I got offered the chance and I jumped on it immediately. Many teachers would love to have the chance to teach this course. This is because it’s a very unique course, there’s no one way to teach it or to learn it. It covers almost any topic imaginable. Any topic you can think of is applicable in TOK.” 6LQFH WKLV LV \RXU ¿UVW \HDU WHDFKLQJ LW ZKDW DUH your general impressions about TOK? “Well, it’s a challenge for the teacher as well as the students. The lessons don’t come to neat or tidy conclusions like in other courses. As a teacher you’re left as though you’re still missing something to teach. But, challenges are good. Challenges make things interesting. If everything is too easy, it gets to be boring. I don’t want to be one of those old teachers who just give out worksheets. The objectives of TOK and the missions of RXU VFKRRO DQG WKH OHDUQHU SUR¿OH DOO OLQH XS WR D ODUJH GHJUHH %\ WHDFKLQJ 72. ,œP IXO¿OOLQJ WKH JRDOV RI WKH ,% OHDUQHU SUR¿OH DQG WKH PLVVLRQ RI $,6 ´ How is TOK different in senior year from junior year? “I haven’t taught senior year yet, but I know there’s going to be the big presentation and we’re going to be getting into the areas of knowledge, so it starts to
Tarek Roshdy
become more tangible for the students. When you do ways of knowing, it’s very abstract. When we get into the areas of knowing, it becomes more relatable and assessable for the students because they can relate it to their subject areas.” What can be done to incorporate TOK with other school subjects? “Great question. One thing I’ve done is bring other teachers into my room, subject area teachers. So, when you get your training from the IB for TOK, they tell you to use your strengths. I’m a social studies teacher, so my strong area isn’t math for example. I once got Ms. Nadine to bring in a student to discuss statistics and I also brought Mr. Spannring to teach about ways of knowing.” Will you continue to teach TOK in the future? “I sure hope so. I would love to keep teaching it. It’s really fun. I learn as well. One of the missions at AIS is to make us lifelong learners. TOK gives us this opportunity as teachers.” How can TOK be useful outside of school? “Once you start studying TOK, you can’t stop thinking about it. You use it all the time. With my personality and biases, I use it a lot when I’m looking at the news and media. How do I know this is the accurate story? How do I know what they’re telling us is the truth?” We would like to thank Mr. Moylan very much for agreeing to have this interview. Do you have any questions for YOUR teachers? You know how to reach us: aise.ibbusy@gmail.com